


In Your Eyes

by fhsa_archivist



Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe, Light BDSM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-05-27
Updated: 2004-05-27
Packaged: 2019-02-05 15:13:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12797085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fhsa_archivist/pseuds/fhsa_archivist
Summary: This is in response to Jinni's "Quickie Challenge" for pairing #54.  Go here to check it out for yourself.   http://quickie.moonlitpaths.com/Inspired by the song "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel but I don't really consider this a song-fic.  The point of view will be switching between Willow and then Shang-Da and then back to Willow to start the whole process over again.  I hope this makes sense.





	In Your Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel 

 

love I get so lost, sometimes 

days pass and this emptiness fills my heart 

when I want to run away 

I drive off in my car 

but whichever way I go 

I come back to the place you are 

all my instincts, they return 

and the grand facade, so soon will burn 

without a noise, without my pride 

I reach out from the inside 

in your eyes 

the light the heat 

in your eyes 

I am complete 

in your eyes 

I see the doorway to a thousand churches 

in your eyes 

the resolution of all the fruitless searches 

in your eyes 

I see the light and the heat 

in your eyes 

oh, I want to be that complete 

I want to touch the light 

the heat I see in your eyes 

love, I don't like to see so much pain 

so much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away 

I get so tired of working so hard for our survival 

I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive 

and all my instincts, they return 

and the grand facade, so soon will burn 

without a noise, without my pride 

I reach out from the inside 

in your eyes 

the light the heat 

in your eyes 

I am complete 

in your eyes 

I see the doorway to a thousand churches 

in your eyes 

the resolution of all the fruitless searches 

in your eyes 

I see the light and the heat 

in your eyes 

oh, I want to be that complete 

I want to touch the light, 

the heat I see in your eyes 

in your eyes in your eyes 

in your eyes in your eyes 

in your eyes in your eyes 

 

Willow breathed the fresh sea air. She was standing at the bay in San Francisco. She was reveling in her freedom. She had freedom from her cares and from her worries. Things had gotten rotten in Sunnydale. She had lost her girlfriend to her magic addiction. Buffy was so distant. Willow was beginning to wonder if there was much of a difference between Buffy and the Buffybot. So, she packed up the car her parents had given her for graduation and she hit the highway. 

 

Shang-Da stood patiently at the luggage carousel. He was waiting for the rest of his bags to swing around. He just got off a flight from St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California. He had to return home to take care of his mother's estate. She had passed away and as he was her only living relative, it fell upon him to take care of things. Richard, his Ulfric, had found a temporary replacement Hati so that Shang-Da could take care of his personal concerns. It would be nice to have a little vacation away from his pack's matters even if it wasn't under the best of circumstances. 

 

Willow was casually strolling along the busy open market in Chinatown when she first laid eyes on him. He stood out from the crowd. He had a look straight out of GQ. His black hair had been gelled into spike configurations. He was busily chatting with an elderly shopkeeper in rapid Cantonese. He had a presence to him. She could feel the shimmering energy that seemed to surround him. He turned around and gazed directly at her. She felt stripped bare before that gaze. He was mesmerizing. 

 

Shang-Da decided that it would be nice to visit his old neighborhood. Nothing much had changed since his last visit to Chinatown. Old friends waved hello as they hurried along their ways. He stopped off at his former local market to have a conversation with the shopkeeper. It was surprising to Shang-Da that Mr. Quong still was puttering around his store. Old Quong had been ancient when Shang-Da was a little boy. It was during his conversation with Old Quong that he felt he was being watched. He turned around and his vision was arrested by the sight of a lovely young woman. Her red hair shone vibrantly in the sunlight. He felt compelled to cross the street and make her acquaintance. 

 

Willow was caught in that gaze. She couldn't move. He was crossing the street. He was coming near. Willow wondered if now might be the right time to hyperventilate. Too late, he was standing just a few feet from her. He was smiling. She couldn't help but smile back. He finally spoke, "Hello beautiful. Would you like to go get some coffee?" She was stuck dumb. Her mouth was no longer communicating with her brain. Finally, thought began to flow again. 

 

"Hello, yes, yes I would like that very much." He offered him her arm and she gave him a wide brilliant smile. 

 

Such a vision of loveliness and she stood perfectly still. She had enchanted him with her pale white skin and her gorgeous green eyes. He halted a few feet from her. He couldn't help but give her a smile. She seemed interested in him. His breath caught when she gave a lovely return smile. He needed to say something to get the conversation ball rolling. So, he said the first thing that came to his mind. He complimented her on her looks and invited her to coffee. He thought for a moment that she would deny him a chance to get to know her but she finally agreed and together they walked to a local café. 

 

Willow couldn't help but be swept up into the romantic maelstrom that she saw every time she looked into Shang-Da's eyes. He showed her the sights of San Francisco since he was a returning native. They went to candlelit dinners in fancy restaurants. They would take nightly strolls walking hand in hand. He would bring her bouquets of wild flowers. She couldn't help but fall in love but it wasn't the things they did or anything he did. No, it was his intensity that she fell in love. It was in those dark pools that some would call eyes that she sunk into and lost her heart. 

 

Shang-Da couldn't believe his luck. She was absolutely charming. He loved to hear her voice as she would babble about the things he would show her throughout his old stomping grounds. He couldn't help but woo her with fancy dinners that were lit romantically by candlelight. She didn't mind just taking strolls at night and going nowhere in particular. He actually started to buy flowers for her but they didn't compare to her particular brand of beauty. She had him completely under her spell. 

 

She should have known that all good things come to an end. Her romantic entanglements always ended badly. She was eternally doomed. She had kept her magical abilities secret. She didn't want to scare him away. Not many people are very understanding of the supernatural. She couldn't help that she was born with this innate talent. She didn't know how to bring it up in conversation. "Hey honey, guess what? I'm a witch. So, where would you like to go for dinner?" She didn't think that would fly very well. But she was resolved. She couldn't base their love on omitted truths. That was the same thing as lying. She had to tell him. 

 

He knew that sooner than later he would have to admit his lycanthropy. The moon's cycle would continue to progress regardless of his feelings on the matter. He didn't mind that he was a werewolf but she might. Many people were biased against shifters. He didn't want what they had to end but she had to know the truth. She had to know what she would be getting into if she continued to date him. He had to tell her and he couldn't wait any longer. 

 

Willow wouldn't let Shang-Da speak. She had to get her peace spoken before she lost her nerve. She faced him but kept her eyes closed so that she wouldn't see his likely unfavorable reaction. 

 

"I have something to say to you and I don't want you to interrupt. This is hard for me to admit and I'll understand if you don't want to see me anymore. I have been keeping a secret from you. I'm a witch. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. I just want you to know that I love you and always will. Even, if you don't want to see me anymore." She finally took a breath and dared to open her eyes. 

 

At first, he was frustrated. He had been defeated by the look on her face. She referred to it as her Resolve Face. He was bursting to tell her what he was before he lost his nerve and she wouldn't let him speak. He was perplexed at what she would have to say that was so important. She smelt of fear. Her body language spoke of anxiety. She wouldn't open her pretty green eyes and look at him. Then he heard it. She was a witch. She wasn't normal just like he wasn't. This made him hopeful. "Willow, I have something to confess also. I'm a lycanthrope. I'm a werewolf." It was his turn to hold his proverbial breath. 

She couldn't believe it. It still wouldn't sink in. She must be in shock. 

 

Everything was going to actually turn out okay. She had found someone who loved her and didn't care about her previous mistakes. She was getting a fresh start. She would be with the man of her dreams. True, he would be furry every month but that wasn't anything new for her. She loved the man and she didn't mind his beast. He was something beyond a normal human male. He was hers. 

 

He couldn't get over it. Here sitting next to him on the plane was his sweet Willow. True, it had been an eye-opening conversation regarding her past and his. The past didn't matter. It would stay buried for them both. He could finally have someone to call his own. She agreed to move in with him. She would follow him halfway across the country. She was a wonder. She was his.


End file.
